Christen Friis
Christen Friis (4 November 1581 – 1 October 1639) was a Danish nobleman, politician, and patron of arts and science.
Christen Friis | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Christen Friis by Simon van de Passe | |
| Born | November 4, 1581 |
| Died | October 1, 1639 (aged 57) |
| Parent | Jørgen Friis |
| Honours | Order of the Elephant (1616) |
Biography
Friis was born on 4 November 1581 in Kastrup to Jørgen Friis and Else Bjørnsdatter. He attended Sorø Academy. In 1610 he inherrited Borreby Castle from his paternal uncle, Johan Friis. He later also inherrited Kragerup in 1610 and purchased Lindholm manor in 1633.[1] He married Barbara Wittrup (1591–1653) on 8 May 1614, with whom he had several children, including Hans Friis and Else Friis.[2]
Friis became Chancellor of Denmark in 1616.[3] He was an opponent of the continuation of the Kalmar War and advocated peace measures to Christian IV of Denmark.[4]
He was a patron of the astronomer Christen Sørensen Longomontanus and the historians Johannes Pontanus and Johannes Meursius, and a friend of the natural historian Ole Worm.[5]
Friis died on 1 October 1639 in Copenhagen.
References
- Ole Degn, Christian 4.s kansler: Christen Friis til Kragerup (1581-1639) som menneske og politiker (Landsarkivet for Nørrejylland, 1988).
- Thomas Riis, Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot, vol. 2 (Odense, 1988), p. 285.
- Steffen Heiberg, Christian IV and Europe (Copenhagen, 1988), p. 62.
- Paul Douglas Lockhart, Denmark in the Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648 (Susquehanna U. P., 1996), pp. 70, 163, 194.
- Karen Skovgaard-Petersen, 'By the direction of the most noble and distinguished Christen Friis: The influence of Chancellor Christen Friis on the histories of Denmark by (1571-1639) and (1579-1639)', Daphnis 32 (1-2), (January 2003), pp. 199-229.